Laundry Day

I did a little paper piecing. I love paper piecing it because it still challenges me even after all these years. The "sock" on the right is wrong. Oops. Had to start over.

Paper carnage. This is a teensy block. Finishes at 4" x 6".

Cute, huh? You can purchase the pattern at The Tartan Kiwi. Psst, color your sections so you don't mess up like I did.

I used my Artisian bread dough to make a flatbread version of Pissaladieres (onion, anchovy, and olive tart). This is before it baked. Silly thing stuck to my pizza peel, so I scraped it off and put it on some parchment paper. It was really good. Not pretty, but it tasted good.

Have you seen the "banned" movie, "The Interview?" I'm watching it right now and it's pretty funny. Crude, but hilarious. If I don't show up back on the blog, North Korea bombed me.

Sunday Stash #86

I'm trying to go on a fabric diet this year, but the sales kill me. And the Kona Solids Club from Canton Village Quilt Works. I'm toast. Go say hi to Jackie for me. If you can leave without buying something, you're a better person than me!

Still on an egg kick. I didn't eat many eggs before adulthood, but I'm more than making up for it now. This Spanish preparation of an olive oil fried egg was pretty interesting.

See how the white edges get brown and crispy? They taste really good. Like potato chips. For breakfast. Where's the onion dip?

Finally finished the center part of the Grand Illusion mystery. There's a pieced border that may or may not happen. I have the units pieced, but I'm getting a little bored with this 1,500+ piece quilt. Time for something different. I'll let the top gel and see if I'm up for the borders one day.

Inspector Gadget was nice enough to hold my flimsy for a photo, but he got thread all over himself. Ha! See the basil plant I'm going to kill?

Hope you have a happy and productive week.

Friends, Family & Food

I love the blog Awkward Family Photos. The link has a cute story about grandma not being in the shot. The family even recreated the photo a couple of times over the years. Grandma got a kick about being published in their book and went along with the photo recreations with gusto. Fun, family memories. I've been meaning to go through my photo albums and scan in some of my fun family shots.



I found these videos so fascinating. I love watching our food stylists during restaurant photo shoots. This gal makes the tiniest little food. I kind of want her tea light stove.

My guild buddy Rene' knows me too well.

She also found me the cutest tea towel. I almost hate to use it! Bones, the house doxie is still kicking but is getting hard of hearing. The UPS guy slinks in silently now. And you can sneak up on Bones and scare him. Not that anyone does that.

I've had this Dill Pickle Soup recipe pinned for some time on Pinterest. I finally got around to making it. Yummy! Definitely a keeper. You could easily make it vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken broth. I'm making this Cream of Mushroom soup tonight. Or maybe this Hungarian Mushroom Soup. I love making soups and must crave mushroom soup often. My Pinterest soup board is filled with all kinds of mushroom soup recipes.

Happy eating!

Happy New Year!

Have you seen this quilt contest by the Quilt Alliance? Might be a fun little challenge once I get through the Quiltville mystery. I really loved how the Grand Illusion reveal turned out. You can see it here. I'm up to 16 main blocks (17 actually, because I forgot I had one done already.) So my quilt will be 4 blocks x 4 blocks with added sashing. I'm a bit nervous about fitting the sashing and cornerstones, but I think I can do it. The pieced border makes me want drink wine. ;) I'm not quite ready for that, but I'm going to work up to it.

We took a quickie cruise to the Bahamas in the new year. I really like cruising. It's relaxing. No phones or internet, fun people watching, endless food, entertainment, sunshine, etc. I had never been to the Bahamas. Nassau was crazy town, but it was fun to visit. And the water is so pretty and blue.

Look! Pirates! Just kidding. This boat guided us into port. I have trouble backing up a car in my driveway. I can't imagine backing a huge cruise ship into a slip. Our captain did it though. First try! Ha ha!

I did see a couple of pirates in town.

Hollywood cruises all the time. Here's the loot she brought me back from her last cruise to Mexico. Hot sauces and the Talavera pottery I collect. She and her boyfriend's family went with us to the Bahamas. We had a lot of fun.

I was surprised to find such nice tomatoes this winter. I'm going to go search for more today. They were delicious.

Artichoke spinach dip is my favorite. I made a huge vat of it basing it loosely on this recipe. College Boy gifted me P-Dub's two latest books for Christmas. I didn't have feta or pepper jack cheese, but I added in some pecorino romano, cheddar and a couple of slices of smoked Gouda. I was trying to make it healthy. Ha! It was really good. I like the heat of the cayenne pepper.

Today's cooking is bone broth or brodo. Bone broths are all the rage right now. I love making stocks and soups, so this isn't new to me, but I don't normally just sip the broth for health. Apparently it's filled with vitamins and minerals that are good for you. This one has seaweed, allspice, bay leaves, parsley, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, salt and pepper.

I roasted inexpensive beef neck bones and chicken wing tips. We eat a lot of chicken wings, and I save the tips. I also found some leftover carrots from a veggie tray in the freezer. You could easily use a rotisserie chicken carcass or even all vegetables to make a vegetarian broth.

I tossed a plum tomato in the pot at the last minute. Here's a step-by-step for making bone broth and the health benefits.Mine is simmering away on the stove this chilly day. I'll strain it this evening, so I'll get a good 10 hour cook time, but you really don't have to let it simmer that long. The recipe above says 48 hours for beef bones, 24 hours for chicken bones, but I'm never that patient.

Happy new year to you and yours! Let's get this year started!